ART

‘scared to death’

/ janpriddyoregon / 7 Comments

Ralph Yarl is home from the hospital and recovering, “a miracle” considering he was shot in the head before the “terrified” gun-owner shot him a second time as he lay bleeding on his front porch. He’d come to the porch to pick up siblings but rang the bell on a Street instead of an Avenue—or was it the other way around? The shooter fired through the glass in the door. Ralph is 5’8″ and weighs 140 pounds. Perhaps he weighs a little less after hospitalization.

A fifteen year old girl in Georgia is taking birth control despite being a virgin because abortion rights have been ended in her state. She is scared to death that the law might require her to carry a rapist’s baby to term.

This month I have been thinking about whether a better world might be possible? I thought, maybe yes, and wrote a book to find out how. And I did not intend to write any of this post today. But there you are. We never know.

The critter on the right is what we call a sand flea. This is a big one, about a centimeter long. Sand fleas aren’t usually not around much except when it’s warm. The critter on the left is something else. The sun was out. Briefly.
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AWP & writing and courage

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A review of my writing and plans for April. No kidding.

“Vogue Philippines released its April issue on Friday and its newest cover model is an 106-year-old indigenous Kalinga woman, Apo Whang-Od, also known as Maria Oggay.” It would have been more impressive (on the part of Vogue) if this had been the cover of the US edition.

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NUDITY

/ janpriddyoregon / 14 Comments

Years ago, the Art teacher at the coastal high school where I was also a teacher for thirty years asked the Biology teacher to pick up a special-order book for her while she was shopping at Powell’s Book Store in Portland. (I was not that Art teacher—I taught Art in Washington State—this was Sandy, the reason I went on to teach English.) Diane drove 80 miles over the coast range to Powell’s and was horrified to discover that there was a nude on the cover of the book. Yes, a naked man! Michelangelo’s David. She was embarrassed to be seen with the book. No, I am not kidding.

WARNING: This marble statue of David (the one who slays the evil giant in the Bible) is totally naked.

A massive block of Carrara marble was cut and transported to Florence in 1464. The famous work was begun in 1501 and completed by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni at the age of 29 in 1504. Intended to be placed high as one of a series of prophet images, the seventeen foot tall sculpture was too heavy to move to that location and was instead sited in a square where the biblical hero was visible to all and recognized as a symbol of civil liberties. In more recent times, the marble showed damage from exposure and was moved indoors, and a replica placed in the square. Another replica of the six ton sculpture has since been placed in the originally intended location in Florence Cathedral.
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BALANCE CONTROL

/ janpriddyoregon / 5 Comments

I can stand on one leg long enough to put each sock on the other foot. I cannot stand on one leg for long with my eyes closed so I stopped trying to do that. I keep reading that my ability to balance on one foot is an indication of longevity.

This morning I read about the 30-second test, balanced on one foot, and with one eye closed. I can sort-of do that with my right foot and right eye closed. (I am left-eye dominant—cross dominance is more common among women than men—right handed and left eye dominant. It’s why I had to aim off-center when I had archery in high school, though I did not understand this at the time.)

The goals I set and the accomplishments I am proud of… a little planning and some realism.

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BEACHCOMBING

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I literally plan to write about beach combing every single day I am on the beach and then I am distracted. I have superstitions (if I touch a stone, I should take it or stack it.) and good luck finding agates and a front yard nearly paved with my finds. We also attended an event this week and reconnected with dear friends, including one I was worried about. All good!

It is the sky that I watch all day at the coast.
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ON THE FENCE

/ janpriddyoregon / 12 Comments

An internet friend announced on her blog that she has decided not to send holiday cards this year. Her habit was to send nearly 100 cards. Receiving about 20 in return last year has forced her to confront what seems a lack of interest.

I am wondering about the same thing.

Oden and Onika, brother and sister. The original was drawn on bristol with a 00 Rapidograph. It was printed on linen-weave cover stock using a heated raised-image commercial printing technique for which I no longer remember the name. It was probably toxic.

This is the season when in years past I would make a decision about sending cards.

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SLOWER

/ janpriddyoregon / 19 Comments

Before I thought of myself as a writer, I thought of myself as an artist—not incompatible identities. Among the many lessons I learned as a visual artist that also apply to literary arts: slow down. Wait. Wait. Wait. The eye (thought) moves faster than the hand on the page; you have to slow down so that the hand can keep up.

Thought is like that too. We can think 1300 words a minute. We can read a fraction of that and write even fewer. Everything jumps ahead of itself with the result that what we read or record skips like a pebble over a smooth pond. What we think we know and what is there, if we take time to look. All that water below… If we want to reveal it all, we must slow down to see it.

The gray gulls above are juveniles; the white-headed and breasted ones are adults. You might guess from this photo: there are a great many kids this year—more than half of those resting onshore. Forty-seven birds shown; seventeen are adults. Mist began yesterday on our shore and the air quality index began to drop. This morning the drizzle started and air quality became breathable throughout the western edges of the Pacific NW from the Willamette Valley north to Puget Sound, Portland to Seattle. I got my short two mile run this morning. Ballots arrived today. Our property tax info came in the mail and the RMV (real market value) of our home has been set at one and a third times what it was last year.
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CLEANING HOUSE, pt. 2

/ janpriddyoregon / 4 Comments

One day I only sorted a single box, the next day I powered through six. Negatives and family photos defy intentions. Nevertheless, I have made progress even during a “Very Bad Week.”

My grandfather’s canes and my dad’s fishing poles remain undisturbed, but the stacks of boxes on the bed are gone, and some of what was stashed on the floor too. The Kitchen Queen in the far corner will be leaving the building, because it can. It is a handsome piece, but no longer fits in our kitchen and does not belong in this bedroom. (Anyone?) The pew is barely visible against the taller windows. It will find its new place once the kitchen furniture moves out, probably next week. I returned new bedding I bought last week. The linen closet is already too full.

My upcoming 10k, diet, and writing. A body and a cherry pitter. Regaining control?

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ANNIVERSARY

/ janpriddyoregon / 21 Comments

Next month is our 48th wedding anniversary, but today is the 50th anniversary of living together. I announced our intention to my mother via a letter sent from Kansas where I was traveling with my step-grandmother. (It was cowardly. While I was old enough to move in with Gary, I was too young to tell Mom face to face.) I learned a lot about wool on that trip.

I sold five shawls in two hours at the Cannon Beach Arts Gallery Summer Night Market. I didn’t sell this one, though one woman held it for a long time. A man kept urging red shawls on his wife; she kept picking up softer cool shades and chose celadon. People asked how long it took to weave them. I have a prepared answer: A week to put the warp on the loom, a week to weave, and another to finish. This does not include the looking and thinking as I figure them out and an essential and time-consuming process. I thought to take a break from weaving over the summer, but a wonderful person GAVE me yarn [thank you thank you thank you!] and now everything is laid out while I figure out a warp. This is at least another week of staring and rearranging colors.

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